1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handy printer capable of performing printing on a recording medium, and a mobile phone provided with the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fixed apparatuses are mainly popular and widespread in relation to the printer based on, for example, the ink-jet system for performing the printing on the recording medium. However, various handy printers, which are of the portable type and which are easily carried, have been also suggested. A portable printer is known as an example thereof, in which a printer is contained in a mobile phone.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-518857 (PCT) describes such a mobile phone which contains a printer. The mobile phone which contains the printer comprises an earpiece or speaker port 2, a microphone 3, an antenna 4, a series of push-buttons 5, and preferably a color LCD screen 6 for displaying information. The mobile phone further comprises a printer unit 12 and a printing medium stock container 9. A card 9 or a sheet 10, which has a name card size, is fed from the printing medium stock container 9 to the printer unit 12 by means of a printing medium feeding means 17, and an image is printed thereon.
In the case of the mobile phone which contains the printer described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-518857 (PCT), the printing is performed on the contained card 9 or the contained sheet 10. Therefore, the size of the recording medium is limited to those of the small-sized recording media such as the name card size. Therefore, it is impossible to perform the printing on any large-sized recording medium which cannot be accommodated in the main apparatus body. The printer-containing mobile phone is inferior in the versatility in relation to the size of the recording medium.